I'm Not Insane, I Promise
by Abbasanrox
Summary: "You're...no. No no no. No you can't be real." I stammered, looking around for an escape, knowing there wasn't one. "You don't sound very sure of yourself." It... HE said. I could hear the smirk in his voice. You know, if he could smirk.
1. What Is Wrong With Me

I don't know why I've felt so uneasy lately. Nothing major has happened so far, the summer has been pretty uneventful. I would woke in the morning, take my dogs a walk, go to work, come home, go to bed, repeat. Looking back now, there were small signs, but my mind never dreamed of what was really going on.

It all started one day when I kept feeling like I was being watched. I would be sitting in my room, on my phone or watching t.v, and in the corner of my eye, I'd swear I had seen movement, but would shrug it off. Not long after, I had a hard time getting to sleep at night. I would be up sometimes as far as 4 a.m, then lay there and be uneasy, unable to decide if I want everything off or leave the t.v on. A few days later I started to have migraines that would last all day. I just assumed they were from lack of sleep. The last thing I noticed was when I was sitting in my car, I looked in the mirror and found one random silver hair.

I shook my head at my reflection and almost laughed aloud.

"Look at you. You're looking way too far into this." I told myself.

Turning my car around I drove to the park where I always take my dogs. Getting out I locked the door and headed onto the path that lead into the forest. I pulled out my i-phone and put in my head phones, turning on Pandora to the Today's Country station. Love and Theft played in my ears as I stuck my phone and hands into my jacket pockets. Most evenings in Ohio where warm, but tonight had a slight chill and the air smelled of rain. I walked through calmly enjoying the summer night. A chill ran down spine and I rubbed at the goose bumps that formed on my arms looking around, suddenly feeling like I was being watched. I kept walking foreword, eyes constantly scanning the foliage as the feeling never faltered. I jumped and held back a scream as a rabbit bolted out in front of me, my nerves on high alert. I let out a sigh and quick walked back to my car, not sure what I was running from. I jumped into my car and started it, giving myself a few moments to sit and think.

_What is wrong with me? _I thought to myself. _You're crazy you know._

I looked up and felt my whole body go rigid and my blood run cold.

_I could've sworn... no. _

Heart beat pounding in my ears I quickly reversed my car and drove down the road to my home. I couldn't get into the door faster as I flung it open and practically threw myself inside. Trying to slow my own breathing, I ran a shaky hand through my auburn curls and went to the bathroom. I splashed water onto my face and looked up at the green eyes staring back at me. Dark circles had started to form under my eyes from lack of sleep. I sighed and wondered for the hundredth time what was wrong with me.

"You're going insane, that's what's wrong with you." I said to my reflection. "And now you're talkin to yourself."

I shook my head and sighed, walking into the living room and laying down on the couch turning on the t.v. I must have dosed off because when I opened my eyes the television had gone into sleep mode. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, eyes gazing out my back door windows. For the second time that day I got that feeling of being watched, and my eyes landed on something, something my brain couldn't even comprehend.

"You're...no. No no no. No you can't be real." I stammered, looking around for an escape, knowing there wasn't one.  
"You don't sound very sure of yourself." It... HE said. I could hear the smirk in his voice.  
You know, if he could smirk.


	2. The Man In The Rain

"Get out of my head!" I screamed out as I bolted right up into a sitting position.

My head whipped around like a bird trying to find that... that thing. I was still in the living room and Say Yes to the Dress was playing on the t.v. My back curtains were drawn, covering the windows, and there was no sign of it anywhere. I put my head in the palm of my hand and shook my head, rolling my eyes at myself and almost laughed.

"You are seriously going insane." I spoke aloud to myself. "It's one thing to spook yourself with watching and reading scary stuff, but now you're dreaming about them?!"

I groaned and laid back putting a pillow over my face. I couldn't completely shake the feeling that someone was watching me, so I was too scared to move the pillow and look. I felt something brush against my leg and I jumped looking down at it quickly. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw my border collie sitting against the couch beside my leg.

"Whata you doin' silly?" I said to my dog as I sat up and scratched his head.

He panted happily as his tongue hung from the side of his mouth. I smiled and stood, dream forgotten for the moment, and made my way over to the island in my kitchen where my phone was laying. My smile grew as I read a text from my boyfriend, telling me how he loved me and to have a good night. I replied back telling him I loved him too, and sighed as I set my phone back down. I bit my lip as I sat at the island. I haven't seen Jack in over three months because he is studying abroad in England, so our little messages back and fourth throughout the day mean so much. I looked down as my phone buzzed with a message from Jack. I giggled as I saw a short clip of him blowing a kiss at the camera and telling me how he couldn't wait to see me again. I watched it multiple times, each time just smiling and smiling more. On the fourth time watching it, my smile faltered as something in the background caught my eye. Off to the left, on Jack's bed, was a leg. A human leg. I didn't know what to think at first, and then of course all these thoughts flew through my head.

Who is that? Is he cheating on me? Should I bring it up? Is it just a friend?

My heart was aching as I dialed Jack's number, biting my lip.

"Hey beautiful," Jack's voice rang in my ear "how're you?"

My heart was racing as I took in a breath, the only thing keeping me from crying.

"Uh, well I don't know, cause you see..." I cut straight to the point "I saw a person in your bed and I just wanted to know if..." My voice trailed off.

There was a long pause between when I stopped talking to when I heard Jack sigh.

"I knew I should have told you." He said sadly.

"Told me what?" My heart was in my throat.

Another long pause.

"I don't think this long distance thing is workin' out." He said.

I didn't know what to say. My mind was numb, as was my heart.

"So-so you decide to cheat instead of tell me how you felt?" I asked, my voice small.

He sighed before replying "Yes."

"Oh." Was all I could manage at the moment.

It had always been us, since high school. I trusted him with everything.

"I see." I said, my voice dull.

I hung up after that. I looked at the clock on my phone. 12:37. Three minutes. Only three minutes had passed since I first saw the video to him admitting to cheating on me. I felt like I was going to implode, like my whole inside was caving in on itself. I was changing from pain to anger so quickly, I didn't know whether to cry or scream. I stood and went into my room, shutting the door behind me.

_You don't need him. You're worth more than that._ I tried convincing myself.

I put my back to the door and slid down hugging myself tightly. As much as I was hurting, no tears would come, which only seemed to make me hurt more.

_I can't do this, I'm not gonna be some girl wallowing in self pity._

After a moment or two I made myself get up and I went through my closet looking for something that was better than my current sweat pants and tank top. Making my decision I slipped on a strapless light blue dress with lace over the top, a long white cardigan, and some white flats. I looked myself in the mirror and bit my lower lip as i examined myself. I wasn't the smallest person, having obvious fat on my body, but I found myself to not look too bad. I didn't bother with makeup but was sure to brush my hair. I called up my best friend Michelle and told her I needed a girls night and she agreed without asking what was wrong, which I was grateful for. I grabbed my purse, made sure my dogs had food and water, grabbed my keys and went out the door. I was grateful for the upcoming hour drive to where I was to meet Michelle, because it required me to focus on the road and not my feelings. What I also loved was blasting my local country station, which always seemed to play exactly what I needed. I sang loudly along with the radio as Bartender played, explaining how I was at the moment.

"... bring it 'till his memory fades away! Hey bartender!" I sang as I came to a stop light.

I sat there for a good twenty seconds before I started to feel uneasy.

_Man, this is a really long light. And I haven't even seen any cars go by!_

The radio host was talking about being caller 9 to win a cd, when the station completely cut out to soft static. I looked down at it not thinking too much about it because sometimes that can happen, but each station I flipped to was the same. Baffled I looked at the traffic lights to see they weren't glowing, at all. Nervously I went through, constantly looking around for other cars, or just any other people. Something wasn't right here. I kept looking in my rear view mirror, almost like I expected to see another car, or maybe somebody standing there. But I never saw anything. After about fifteen minutes of eerie silence, I almost screamed when Friday Night started playing over the radio. Heart racing I turned down the volume to a dull roar before pulling over to the side of the road and put my car into park. I don't know why, but I just had to stop driving. My hands were shaking as I ran them through my hair and a small sob escaped my throat. I couldn't explain what was making me react this way, I just felt a terror deep in my core that shook me deeply.

_Tap tap tap_

My body froze. I slowly looked to my left out the window and let out a loud scream as I saw the silhouette of a face and at that moment, lightning struck a tree right on the other side of the road causing a loud _crack_ to echo in my ears.

"Hey!"

Apparently, during my break down it had started to pour the rain, and someone had gotten out of their car and was tapping on my window. I rolled it down to be greeted with howling wind.

"Hey!" He yelled again over the rain. "Are you alright? There isn't another town around here for another 40 minutes, do you need a ride?"

I just stared at him, confused where the rain had come from and how long I'd sat there. I was about to tell him I was fine when my car suddenly began to slightly shake then completely turn off. I sighed and looked back at him.

"I guess I do."

He nodded and ran to his truck which was parked in front of me and ran back with an umbrella in hand. Luckily my car didn't have automatic windows, so I cranked it up, grabbed my things, and quickly got out of the car. We walked to the passenger side where he let me in then he made it back around to the driver side, sliding in and quickly shaking off and closing the umbrella. He turned up the heat as we were both shivering from the rain and we began driving down the road, silently at first.

"So," I began awkwardly "what about this rain huh? Just came out of no where."

He glanced at me for a moment a confused look on his face, before looking back at the road.

"What do you mean? It's been raining for a good hour now." He said looking at me a few more times.

"An hour?! That's not possible. I wasn't pulled over for more than five minutes before you showed up, and it hadn't been raining." I said matter-of-factly.

_But that would explain why I ran out of gas. _I shook my head, changing the subject before he could think I was even more crazy.

"My names Hazel by the way, I don't think I caught yours." I said.

"Sedrick." He said, voice slightly empty.

I nodded looking foreword. "Well thank you for, you know, checking on me and driving me to town."

He just shrugged, "Don't worry about it." Was all he said.

I nodded again and didn't say anything after that, starting to realize I really had gotten into a car with a stranger. Isn't that what they always tell you not to do? But here I was, in a complete strangers car, and yet not feeling scared. There was something about him that made me feel as if I'd met him before.


End file.
